The World Evangelical Alliance launched its new website Monday as part of a longstanding effort to strengthen its voice and unite its international members.
"This is a good step forward in expanding, reshaping, and increasing the impact of the evangelical voice," said Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of WEA. "We live in a more and more globally connected world primarily through the internet, and the web presence has become a significant player."
The new website features most of the same content as the old version, but organises the information in a more systematic and "user-friendly" way.
"Our old website was very comprehensive and had a ton of resources, but the information was hard to find," explained Sylvia Soon, WEA media director. "Also, it needed an updated look and feel, and a better web presence."
According to Soon, the website is still under the initial development phase and will likely take six months to complete. In that time, she hopes to develop several new features that will help "ordinary users who are interested to get some answers."
"It’ll provide more services for our WEA members, like a chat room, bulletin board, and internet capability," said Soon. "But we’re rushing to get through the first stage and we’ve yet to evaluate what our immediate next needs are."
For now, some of the new features already on the site include a news box that addresses issues affecting both the evangelical and general population, and a section explaining what evangelicals are. Both features are meant to help the WEA develop a stronger voice.
"The voice does two things. It brings awareness to an issue and brings people together for action," said Soon. "The website will be key in making this voice known to our members and to average users."
Overall, Soon hopes the new website will allow its international members to stay connected.
"We are so spread out," explained Soon. "We want to have a global presence, and we want our constituents to stay connected with what we are doing. We want them to be aware of the initiatives we are involved in."
Pauline J. Chang
